r\  u,   u    '  '^  ■  <    I    I 


■t 


CONNECTICUT 

B6B1GDLT0BIIL  mwm  WW 


NEW  HAVEN,   CONN. 


BULLETIN  179,  OCTOBER,  1913. 


SOY    BEANS. 


CONTENTS. 

The  Soy  Bean  Plant   3 

Composition       4 

Yield       5 

Possible  Uses  in  Connecticut   6 

Varieties        7 

As  to  Planting   9 

Our  Own  Experience  9 

The  Bulletins  of  this  Station  are  mailed  free  to  citizens  of  Con- 
necticut who  apply  for  them,  and  to  others  as  far  as  the  editions 
permit. 


CONNECTICUT  AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION. 


OFFICERS   AND  STAFF. 


BOARD  OP  CONTROL. 
His  Excellency,  Simeon  E.  BaldAvin,  ex-officio,  President. 

Prof.  H.  W.  Conn,  Vice  President Middletown 

George  A.  Hopson,  Secretary  Wallingford 

E.  H.  Jenkins,  Director  and  Treasurer New  Haven 

Joseph.  W.  Alsop   Avon 

Wilson  H.  Lee Orange 

Frank  H.  Stadtmueller Elmwood 

James  H.  Webb   Hamden. 


Administration.  E.   H.  Jenkins.   Ph.D.,  Director  and  Treasurer. 

Miss  V.  E.  Cole,  Librarian  and  Stenographer. 
Miss  L.  M.  Brautlecht,  Bookkeeper  and  Stenographer. 
William  Veitch,  In  charge   of  Buildings  and   Grounds.. 

Chemistry. 

Analytical   Laboratory.  John   Phillips   Street,   M.S.,   Chemist   in  Charge. 
E.  Monroe  Bailey,  Ph.D.,  C.  B.  Morison,  B.S., 
C.  E.   Shepard,  G.  L.  Davis,  Assistants, 
Hugo  Lange,  Laboratory  Helper. 
V.  L.   Churchill,  Sampling  Agent. 
Miss  E.   B.  Whittlesey,  Stenographer. 


Proteid  Research. 


T.   B.  Osborne,  Ph.D.,   Chemist  in   Charge. 
Miss  E.  L.  Ferry,  M.S.,  Assistant. 


Botany. 


G.   P.   Clinton,   S.D.,  Botanist. 

E.  M.    Stoddard,   B.S.,  Assistant. 

Miss  M.  H.  Jagger,  Seed  Analyst. 

Miss   E.   B.   Whittlesey,  Herbarium  Assistant. 


Entomology. 


W.   E.   Britton,  Ph.D.,  Entomologist;  State  Entomologist.. 
B.   H.  Walden,  B.Agr.,  First  Assistant. 
Q.  S.  Lowry,  B.S.,  I.  W.  Davis,  B.S.,  Assistants. 
Miss  F.   M.   Valentine,  Stenographer. 


Forestry. 


Walter  O.   Filley,  Forester;  also  State 

Forester  and  State  Forest  Fire   Warde 
A.  E.  Moss,  M.F.,  Assistant  Station  Forester. 
Miss  E.  L.  Avery,  Stenographer. 


Plant   Breeding. 


H.  K.  Hayes,  M.S.,  Plant  Breeder. 
C.  D.  Hubbell,  Assistant. 


SOY  BEANS. 
By  E.  H.  Jenkins. 


The  Soy  bean  has  been  grown  for  human  food  in  Man- 
churia, northern  India  and  Japan  for  ages.  It  was  first  raised 
in  this  country  early  in  the  last  century  and  as  a  farm  crop 
in  the  early  eighties. 

With  us  it  is  only  grown  at  present  for  cattle  feed,  green 
manuring  and  oil  and  seed  production. 

Its  use  as  a  forage  crop  is  still  quite  small  but  it  is  extend- 
ing in  widely  separated  regions,  for  some  varieties  may  be 
grown  for  forage  wherever  corn  can  be  raised. 

This  bulletin  gives  some  facts  about  the  crop  and  the  uses 
which  farmers  may  make  of  it,  in  the  belief  that  it  has  a 
place  among  paying  crops  and  should  at  least  be  tested  care- 
fully in  Connecticut. 


THE  SOY  BEAN  PLANT. 

The  soy  bean,  (Soja  bean)  is  an  annual,  growing  best  in 
warm  weather  and  killed  by  moderate  frost.  It  stands 
drought  rather  better  than  corn  or  cow  peas.  It  has  a  branch- 
ing stem  ranging  in  height,  according  to  the  variety,  from 
eighteen  to  fifty  inches  or  more. 

The  somewhat  hairy  leaves,  as  the  picture  shows,  consist 
of  three  leaflets. 

The  flowers,  white  or  purple,  borne  in  clusters,  are  abun- 
dantly self-fertile.  Different  varieties,  planted  together,  may 
occasionally  hybridize  but  not  abundantly. 

Each  of  the  thick,  hairy  pods  contains  two,  three,  or  four 
seeds. 


4      CONNECTICUT   EXPERIMENT    STATION     BULLETIN    NO.    179. 
COMPOSITION  OF  THE  CROP. 

The  following  analyses,  made  of  the  Massachusetts  station 
furnish  a  comparison  of  soy  bean  forage  and  seed  with  those 
of  other  commonly  used  feeds. 

The  forage  compares  in  feeding  value  with  clover  and 
alfalfa  and  the  beans  have  about  the  same  percentage  of  pro- 
tein and  twice  as  much  fat  as  linseed  meal. 

The  forage  and  seed  therefore  supply  a  very  concentrated 
feed  capable  of  reducing  greatly  the  need  of  boughten  con- 
centrates. Both  are  relished  by  cattle  and  have  proved  to  be 
satisfactory  for  feeding  dairy  stock,  sheep  and  swine. 


COWPEAS   AS   A   COVER  CROP. 


It  is  a  hot  weather,  dry  weather  crop,  does  its  nitrogen- 
gathering  and  makes  its  growth  quickly  and  can  be  harvested 


SOY  BEANS. 


in  time  to  fit  the  land  for  winter  grain.  Its  high  protein  con- 
tent, fitness  for  a  variety  of  soils,  moderate  fertilizer  require- 
ments and  other  qualities  make  it  worth  a  trial. 

PERCENTAGE    COMPOSITION    AND   DIGESTIBLE    NUTRIENTS    OF   SOY 
BEAN    COMPARED   WITH    THAT   OF   OTHER   FEEDS. 


Composition 


Digestible 


^  %  ^ 

Soy  beans    40  80 

Alfalfa 6  80 

Red  clover 13  80 

Corn  fodder  76  80 

Soy   beans        ....  8  1.4 

Cotton  seed  meal  404  7 

Linseed  meal   O.   P.  138  8.5 


<"  1-  u 

O  ^  Mo 

I-  rt:  o   nj 

^        Fm  fi(  i  i: 

■^    Green  Forase  ^   <u 

2.2       3.9  5.1  8.1 

2.7  6.2  9.1 

3.1  5.7  8.8 

1.6  4.6  12.4 

Seed  or  Meal. 

32.8  4.4  26.9 

44.6  6.5  25.2 

34.3  8.5  36.4 


1.6 
1.8 
1.0 

4.8 
5.2 


0.7 
0.4 
06 
0.4 

17.1 

10.0 

7.1 


3.0 
2.0 
2.0 
0  9 

29.8 
37.5 
30.5 


2,2 
2.7 
3.0 
2.8 


2.3 

4.8 


i     fe 

0.3 
0.2 
0.4 
0.3 


6.3 
6.6 
6.3 
9.4 

21.8 
19.7 
28.4 


15.9 
9.4 
6.3 


YIELD. 

When  grown  for  seed,  yields  reported  by  the  New  Jersey 
Station  range  from  15  to  25  bushels  per  acre  and  100  pounds 
of  cured  forage  to  each  bushel  of  seed.  The  Ohio  station 
gives  yields  of  19  to  28^  bushels  from  different  varieties,  with 
an  average  of  about  18  bushels,  and  62  to  116  pounds  of  straw 
for  each  bushel  of  seed. 

The  Delaware  station  reports,  as  average  of  five  years' 
tests  with  different  varieties,  from  14.6  to  35  bushels 
per  acre.  Of  57  varieties  tested  in  that  state,  30  yielded  25 
bushels  or  more  and  10  produced  over  30  bushels. 

The  Massachusetts  station  reports  an  average  yield  of  24.4 
bushels  of  seed  and  1,950  pounds  of  straw.  The  Medium 
Green  variety  at  that  station  yielded  10.3  tons  of  green  fodder 
as  against  16  tons  of  Longfellow  corn  fodder.  The  cost  of 
growing  the  two  crops  was  about  the  same  and  the  acre  yield 
of  three  feed  ingredients  in  pounds  was : — 

Protein     Fat     Fiber 


In  green  soy  bean  forage 
In  Longfellow  corn  fodder 


1,167    234 
871     290 


1,418 
1,626 


6       CONNECTICUT   EXPERIMENT    STATION     BULLETIN    NO.    179. 

Other  states  report  5  to  10  tons  of  green  fodder  as  a  general 
average,  with  a  feeding  value  about  like  alfalfa. 


USES   IN   THIS   STATE. 

The  most  obvious  use  of  soy  beans  is  as  a  catch  crop.  If 
winter  grain,  fall  or  spring-sown  clover,  or  grass  seed  fails, 
soy  beans,  drilled  just  after  corn  planting  or  even  late  in  June, 
will  yield  a  soiling  crop  of  excellent  quality  for  use  in  late 
August  and  into  September  and  may  be  removed  in  time  to 
seed  winter  grain. 

By  planting  several  varieties  which  differ  in  their  periods 
of  growth,  the  period  in  which  the  crop  can  be  fed  green 
may  be  prolonged  from  August  15  to  frost. 

The  best  time  for  cutting  is  when  the  pods  are  well  formed 
but  before  the  lower  leaves  have  begun  to  turn  yellow  and  fall. 

It  can  also  he  silaged,  not  alone  but  with  corn  or  late-sown 
millet  at  the  rate  of  two  loads  of  either  to  one  of  soy  beans, 
using  a  corn  binder  to  harvest  them,. 

Growing  soys  in  the  hill  with  corn  has  not  been  generally 
successful  in  other  states. 

Soy  bean  hay  is  about  equal  to  alfalfa  if  it  is  successfully . 
cured  and  the  stems  are  not  too  coarse.     For  hay,  varieties 
must  be  chosen  having  tender  stems,  maturing  rather  early, 
and  the  rate  of  seeding  should  be  heavy. 

Soy  beans  as  a  green  manure  in  young  orchards  offers  a 
good  chance  to  test  different  varieties,  and  learn  methods  of 
handling,  etc.  They  can  be  drilled  the  first  of  June,  cultivated 
for  a  month  and  then,  when  orchard  cultivation  naturally 
stops,  they  will  grow  rapidly,  taking  moisture  and  plant  food 
and  checking  somewhat  the  tree  growth. 

In  late  September,  or  earlier,  if  early  sorts  are  used,  they 
can  be  plowed  or  disked  and  rye  sown,  or  they  can  be  left  to 
be  cut  down  by  frost  and  lie  until  spring  on  the  ground. 

In  this  way  the  owner  may  test  rates  of  seeding  and  try 
a  number  of  varieties  and  find  which  will  mature  seed  and 
which  will  yield  the  best  forage.  He  will  also  get  his  land 
inoculated,  thus  probably  increasing  his  yields  from  year  to 
year,  as  well  as  the  nitrogen-gathering  from  the  air. 


SOY  BEANS.  7 

For  Seed.  While  prices  of  soy  beans  are  as  high  as  at 
present,  growing  for  seed  has  been  profitable.  For  this  they 
should  be  planted  rather  thinner  than  for  forage,  using 
varieties  which  will  nearly  ripen  before  frost  and  which  do 
not  shatter  badly.  When  the  leaves  have  begun  to  turn  yellow 
and  drop  and  the  pods  are  browning,  light  frosts  will  not  in- 
jure the  seed. 

A  bean  threshing  machine  is  desirable  though  a  grain 
thresher  may  be  adjusted  to  do  fairly  good  work. 


SOY  BEANS   FOR   HOG  PASTURE. 

In  southern  states  this  bean  has  been  used  for  hog 
pasture.  Bulletin  154  of  the  Alabama  station  reports  ex- 
perience in  pasturing  lots  of  ten  pigs,  each  weighing  at  the 
beginning  about  45  pounds,  on  an  acre  of  soy  beans  for  from 
43  to  62  days,  feeding  at  the  same  time  to  each  lot  either  one, 
two,  or  three  pounds  of  corn  daily  per  100  pounds  live  weight. 
The  total  value  (7  cents  per  pound)  of  the  pork  made  on 
each  acre,  after  deducting  the  cost  of  the  corn  feed,  was 

with  y^  ration  corn  as  above  $28.23 

u     ^       u  u      u       u  25.84 

"■     ^       "  "      "       "  39.13 

These  are  averages  of  three  years'  experience. 


VARIETIES. 

The  experience  of  Massachusetts  may  safely  be  applied  to 
Connecticut  conditions  of  climate. 

The  Medium  Green  variety,  brought  from  Japan  by  Prof. 
W.  P.  Brooks,  of  the  Massachusetts  station,  and  grown  at  the 
station  more  or  less  for  25  years,  has  only  been  injured  by 
frost  twice  during  the  time.  Prof.  Brooks  says  of  it,  "On 
good  land  not  extravagantly  fertilized  it  grows  about  breast 
high,  and  can.  be  depended  upon,  when  planted  in  rows  about 
2  feet  apart,  at  the  rate  of  a  half  bushel  of  seed  to  the  acre, 
to  yield  about  12  tons  of  forage  harvested  when  the  pods  are 
mostly  filled  but  before  they  begin  to  ripen." 


8      CONNECTICUT   EXPERIMENT    STATION.    BULLETIN    NO.    179. 

The  Medium  Yellow,  which  Prof.  Brooks  regards  as 
essentially  the  same  as  Ito  San,  is  fairly  satisfactory  but  does 
not  yield  as  much  seed  or  forage  as  the  medium  green. 

The  Early  White  ripens  before  frost  as  surely  as  corn.  It 
is  too  small  for  forage. 

The  station  will  greatly  enlarge  its  test  of  varieties  in  con- 
nection with  selection  work  and  hopes  to  have  the  most  prom- 
ising varieties  growing  at  its  farm  next  summer. 


COVER  CROP  OF  SOY  BEANS,   ABOUT  FORTY  INCHES  HIGH. 

In  New  Jersey  Ito  San  is  one  of  the  best  varieties  for  early 
maturity  of  seed.  Planted  June  1,  it  was  harvested  September 
10,  and  had  matured  seed  when  planted  July  27,  but  this 
must  be  exceptional. 

The  Wilson  stands  between  the  seeding  and  soiling  varie- 
ties. It  is  lighter  in  stalk  than  Ito  San  and  somewhat  twin- 
ing in  habit. 


EXPERIENCE  WITH   SOY  BEANS.  V 

AS   TO   PLANTING. 

Inoculation.  It  is  harder,  in  our  experience,  to  thoroughly 
inoculate  land  for  soy  beans  than  for  other  legumes.  Like 
alfalfa,  a  partial  inoculation  the  first  year  makes  it  quite  effect- 
ive in  the  following  year.  The  best  material  is  500  pounds 
of  soil  from  a  field  where  the  crop  has  grown  well.  Failing 
this,  the  artificial  cultures  of  the  trade  may  be  used,  although 
our  experience  with  them  has  not  been  encouraging. 

A  well-prepared  seed  bed  is  as  desirable  for  soy  beans  as 
for  all  other  seeded  crops. 

Rate  of  Seeding.  For  seed  production,  drill  the  beans  in 
rows  24-36  inches  apart  (20  inches  is  suitable  for  the  small 
early  varieties),  and  drop  the  beans  2-4  inches  apart  in  the 
row,  covering  about  an  inch  deep. 

With  rows  30  inches  apart,  10-12  quarts  of  seed  to  an  acre 
are  needed. 

The  cultivation  costs  about  as  much  as  corn  cultivation. 

For  growing  forage,  seeding  may  be  done  with  a  wheat 
drill,  using  Ij/^  bushels  per  acre,  thus  avoiding  the  expense  of 
cultivation. 

Fertilizers.  Land  fit  for  corn  is  fit  for  soy  beans,  only  an 
amount  of  available  nitrogen  necessary  for  corn  is  not 
required  by  soys.  300  pounds  of  acid  phosphate  or  of  basic 
phosphate  and  100  pounds  of  muriate  of  potash  on  lands 
which  are  not  in  good  condition  will  no  doubt  pay  in  many 
cases. 


Our  Own  Experience. 

Many  years  ago  we  planted  soy  beans,  on  very  light,  sandy 
soil  of  the  Montowese  plain,  with  a  moderate  amount  of  phos- 
phate and  potash  and  without  inoculation.  The  beans  grew 
about  a  foot  high  and  were  a  failure.  The  next  year  on  the 
same  land  they  grew  waist  high  and  were  very  thrifty.  No 
record  of  yields  was  kept.  In  1910  and  1911  they  were  grown 
on  the  Centerville  farm  in  plots  severally  inoculated  with  vari- 
ous  commercial  inoculating  cultures,  none  of  which  proved 


10       CONNECTICUT  EXPERIMENT  STATION    BULLETIN   NO.    179. 

very  effective,  but  the  second  year's  crop  was  larger  than  the 
first  year's,  indicating  a  natural  inoculation  of  the  land. 

The  variety  was  an  early  one  yielding  1,254  pounds  of  well 
dried  seed,  about  20.9  bushels  per  acre  and  1,339  pounds  of 
straw,  or  64  pounds  of  straw  to  the  bushel  of  grain.  The  an- 
alyses are  given  on  p.  12.    In  1912  soy  beans  were  grown  as  a 


NODULES  CONTAINING  NITROGEN-GATHERING  BACTERIA 
ON  ROOTS  OF  SOY  BEAN. 


cover  crop  on  the  Mt.  Carmel  orchard  (trees  set  two  years). 
They  were  planted  late,  July  20th,  and  made  unsatisfactory 
growth. 

In  1913  the  Hollybrook  soy  bean  was  drilled  in  rows  26 
inches  apart  on  June  12th,  where  soys  had  grown  the  year 


EXPERIENCE  WITH   SOY  BEANS. 


11 


before.  The  orchard  received  1  ton  ground  limestone,  133  lbs. 
nitrate  of  soda,  116  lbs.  acid  phosphate  and  160  lbs.  muriate 
of  potash  per  acre.  The  beans  were  cultivated  a  few  times 
before  July  15,  when  cultivation  ceased.  During  July  and 
August  there  was  very  little  rain  and  all  crops  suffered.  On 
September  27  the  soys  were  dark  green,  about  40  inches  high. 


COVER  CROP  OF  SOY  BEANS  ON  LEFT,   BUCKWHEAT  ON  RIGHT. 


a  few  bottom  leaves  turning  yellow.  The  pods  had  set,  but 
were  still  very  immature.  The  roots  were  abundantly  set  with 
nodules.  From  a  measured  area  the  plants  were  gathered, 
weighed  and  analyzed,  with  the  results  on  p.  12.  calculated 
to  the  acre.  The  first  killing  frost  came  on  October  21.  At 
that  time  the  pods  had  not  browned  much  but  the  seed  was 
plump  and  cured  well. 


12       CONNECTICUT  EXPERIMENT  STATION    BULLETIN   NO.    179. 

On  Other  plots  buckwheat  and  cow  peas  were  grown  under 
like  soil  conditions,  for  comparison  of  their  value  as  cover 
crops,  and  harvested  at  the  same  time.  The  results  in  pounds 
per  acre  are  as  follows : — 

Soy  Beans    Cow  Peas     Buckwheat 


Water 

Mineral  matter 
Vegetable  matter 

12,913 

641 

3,323 

16,515 
560 

2,522 

8,200 

340 

2,490 

Total  yield 

Nitrogen 
Phosphoric  acid 
Potash 

16,877 

96 
17 

68 

19,597 

72 
11 

72 

11,030 

53 
12 
79 

It  appears  that  this  year  the  soy  beans  yielded  considerably 
more  vegetable  matter  and  nitrogen  than  did  either  the  cow 
peas  or  buckwheat. 

The  analyses  and  yields  per  acre  of  the  soys  grown  for 

seed  in  1911  at  Centerville  and  in  1913  at  Mt.  Carmel  for 

forage,     (Hollybrook     variety)     with     acre     yields     are  as 
follows : — 


Per 
cent 

Water            5  73 

Ash        6.64 

Protein          3.75 

Fiber          42.65 

Nitrogen  -  free    extract..  40.35 

Fat    (ether    extract)     .  .  .  0.88 


Centerville 

Mt. 

Carmel 

Straw 

Beans 

Soy  Bean  Forage 

Pounds 

Per 

Pounds 

Per 

Pounds 

per  acre 

cent 

per  acre 

cent 

per  acre 

5.21 

76.51 

12913 

5.09 

3.80 

641 

SO 

40.75 

511 

3.55 

599 

571 

4.30 

54 

6.50 

1099 

540 

28.09 

352 

9.09 

1535 

11 

16.56 

207 

0.55 

93 

16,878 


Two  varieties  from  L.  P.  Nemzek,  Gibbsboro,  N.  J.,  were 
grown  for  seed.  They  were  labeled  "304"  and  "Kentucky". 
Both  fully  matured  their  seed  in  late  September.  "304"  is 
stated  to  be  Ito  San  previously  grown  in  Kansas,  "Kentucky" 


EXPERIENCE  WITH  SOY  BEANS.  13 

is  a  variety  imported  from  Manchuria  in  1911  and  success- 
fully grown  in  Kentucky  in  1912,  Both  were  rather  small 
•varieties,  planted  in  rows  20  inches  apart.  "304"  yielded 
784.6  lbs.,  or  13.1  bushels  of  dry  seed  per  acre,  with  1,331  lbs. 
of  straw. 

The  average  height  of  the  stalk  (387  measurements)  was 
22.9  inches  and  average  number  of  pods  per  plant  18. 

The  Kentucky  variety  was  apparently  a  better  yielder,  ten 
days  later  in  maturity,  but  the  stand  was  too  uneven  to  make 
a  reliable  measurement  for  yield. 

The  average  height  of  the  stalks  was  19.2  inches  (498 
measurements)  and  average  number  of  pods  per  plant  39. 

The  Hollybrook  variety  referred  to  above  stood  about  40 
inches  high  and  was  much  later  in  maturing  than  either  Ito 
San  or  Kentucky.  The  leaves  had  not  yet  turned  yellow  when 
killing  frost  came,  early  in  November.  The  seed  was  how- 
ever plump  and  apparently  uninjured.  It  was  not  harvested 
until  November  25th. 

The  composition  of  the  three  varieties  of  beans  grown  here 
in  1913  was  as  follows,  calculated  to  ten  per  cent,  of 
moisture : — 


Water     

"304" 

.     10.00 

.       4.89 

.     34.02 

, .       5.67 

. .     27.69 

, .     17.73 

Soy  Beat 
"304" 

Kentucky 

10.00 

5.54 
35.98 

4.26 
25.56 
18.66 

is 

Hollj'brook 

10.00 

Ash     

5.07 

Protein     

32.97 

Fiber    

6.35 

Nitrogen-free  extract    .  , 
Fat      

28.32 
17.29 

- 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

The  Uses  of  The  Agricultural  Station 
And  How  It  May  Help  The  Farmer. 


The  main  purpose  of  this  Station  is  "to  promote  agriculture 
by  scientific  investigation  and  experiment."  The  results  of 
this  study  and  experiment  were  at  first  printed  in  its  bulletins 
and  reports.  But  as  the  station  work  has  increased  this  could 
not  be  done  because  of  limits  imposed  by  law  on  the  size  of 
our  reports.  Much  of  the  research  work,  therefore,  which  is 
not  of  immediate  practical  use  to  farmers  has  been  printed  in 
various  technical  journals.  Our  reports  and  bulletins  sum- 
marize and  discuss  such  results  of  finished  work  as  are  of 
present  use  to  the  farmers. 

Thus  they  give  information  on  fertilizers,  cattle  foods, 
human  food  and  drugs,  on  insects  and  plant  diseases  which 
injure  crops,  and  the  use  of  sprays  and  other  means  of  killing 
these  pests,  on  the  management  of  woodland,  on  the  practice 
of  plant  breeding,  etc.  They  are  for  careful  reading  and 
study. 

But  there  is  another  valuable  kind  of  work  which  this  sta- 
tion does,  which  is  not  so  well  understood  or  appreciated, 
because  it  has  been  entirely  done  by  correspondence  with 
individuals  and  therefore  never  shows  in  print.  To  this  we 
wish  to  call  special  attention.  There  are  of  course  many  sub- 
jects of  great  importance  to  farmers  which  our  bulletins  and 
reports  do  not  touch. 

This  must  be  so  for  no  Station  without  vastly  larger  funds 
than  our  own  can  do  creditable  work  in  all  those  departments 
of  science,  which  can  serve  the  farmer.  On  many  of  these 
subjects  members  of  the  staff  can  give  helpful  information  and 
advice,  or  if  not  will  refer  the  inquirer  to  the  persons  or 
institutions  which  can  give  it.  The  number  of  letters  and 
manuscript  reports  daily  sent  by  the  station,  averaging  forty 
for  every  working  day  in  the  year,  gives  some  idea  of  the 
extent  of  this  service  to  individual  farmers  at  the  present  time. 
If  copies  of  these  letters  were  accessible  to  farmers  it  is  safe 
to  say  they  would  be  found  less  formal,  but  more  practical 


and  immediately  helpful  and  covering  a  very  much  larger  field 
of  know^ledge  than  our  printed  bulletins  and  reports. 

Every  farmer  in  the  state  has  the  privilege  and  the  right  to 
apply  to  the  Station  for  any  information  he  needs  and  the 
Station  will  give  every  such  request  its  best  attention.  It  will 
also  issue  from  time  to  time  bulletins  which  will  not  deal 
exclusively  with  its  own^  work,  but  will  combine  with  it  other 
information  which  it  may  have  at  command  and  which  its 
correspondence  shows  is  of  general  interest  and  value. 

The  aim  of  county  advisers,  agricultural  experts,  and  the 
whole  extension  movement  is  to  bring  the  work  of  the  Agri- 
cultural College  and  Stations  to  the  individual  farmer  and 
such  Avork  property  planned  and  carried  out  will  be  of  great 
value.  The  point  of  this  paragraph  is,  on  the  other  hand,  to 
urge  farmers  to  come  themselves  directly  to  the  station,  to 
bring  the  farmer  to  the  Station,  for  it  is  distinctively  his 
institution  and  for  his  use  and  he  is  always  welcome. 


University  of 
Connecticut 

Libraries 


39153029221886 


